Prehabilitation to Revolutionize Oncology: Telehealth Exercise for Cognitive Triumphs (The PROTECT Trial)

August 26, 2025 updated by: Washington University School of Medicine
The investigators propose to deliver a pilot randomized controlled trial to 40 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and scheduled to undergo chemotherapy. The current objectives are: 1) to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the prehabilitation physical activity (PA) intervention delivered by a physical therapist and 2) assess the intervention's feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness. The long-term goal is to scale this intervention for implementation into the standard of cancer care to prevent, mitigate, and treat cancer-related cognitive decline (CRCD).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
41

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • Washington University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of breast cancer (stage I-III).
  • Female.
  • At least 18 years old.
  • Scheduled to receive curative-intent chemotherapy.
  • English speaking.
  • Deemed fit to participate in a PA intervention by their oncologist.
  • Not currently participating in another physical activity research study.
  • Low active, defined by self-report as no more than 2 times per week of regular physical activity in the last six months
  • Able to understand and willing to sign an IRB-approved written informed consent document.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Physical Activity Intervention
  • Participants will complete a primarily home-based PA intervention, with the goal of safely increasing their steps/day by incorporating moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)
  • Participants will receive Fitbits with heart rate capabilities to support maintenance of the prescribed intensity during home exercise sessions and participants' self-monitoring of daily steps.
  • Participants will strategize aerobic MVPA behaviors with the intervention PT to identify preferable and enjoyable PA modalities (e.g., walking, cycling), while also identifying alternative options to allow for flexibility if life- or cancer-specific barriers arise
  • During the first Zoom coaching session, the intervention PT will train participants on using the Fitbit and completing home exercise logs. The PT will continue to meet with participants to support exercise maintenance, review home exercise sessions, strategize new exercises, and troubleshoot emerging chemotherapy-related health declines.
Other: Physical Activity Intervention
Fitbit wearable device, home exercise sessions, and telehealth appointments with physical therapist.
No Intervention: Usual care, wait-list control condition
-Participants in the control group will proceed with their treatment regimen as prescribed by their oncologist(s). To prevent drop out and high attrition rates as well as promote healthy behavior, control group participants will receive a Fitbit at the initial set-up meeting to wear during chemotherapy, as well as an individualized home exercise program and up to two Zoom coaching sessions with a PT after chemotherapy completion.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in self-reported cognition function as measured by FACT-Cog
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
The FACT-Cog examines a range of self-reported cognitive domains, including perceived cognitive impairment (PCI, range 0-71), perceived cognitive abilities (PCA, range 0-28), impact of cognitive impairment on quality of life (CogQOL, range 0-16), cognitive impairment perceived by others (CogOth, range 0-16), and a total cognitive functioning score (the sum of the other 4 subscales). Higher scores indicate fewer cognitive difficulties.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Feasibility of the intervention as measured by Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)
Time Frame: After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
The FIM measures the degree to which a participant feels an intervention is feasible to them. It ranges from 4-20, and higher scores indicate more feasibility. We will use a cutoff of 16 to indicate "feasible"
After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Spatial Working Memory
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will measure the participant's ability to hold information about an object's location in short term memory. Overall accuracy is the primary measure of performance. Accuracy ranges from 0-100%. Higher accuracy scores represent better accuracy.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline N-back
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)

BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will assess the participant's ability to retain sequentially presented information in short-term memory. Overall accuracy is considered the primary measure of performance.

Accuracy ranges from 0-100%. Higher accuracy scores represent better accuracy.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Flanker
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will assess the participant's ability to focus attention and block irrelevant information. Task performance is assessed by observing reaction time cost. Reaction time ranges from 0-5000 milliseconds. Higher reaction times represent slower reaction time.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Trails A&B
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will assess the participant's ability to connect-the-dots, drawing a line between targets in a specified ascending order. Task performance is assessed by observing time to completion. A higher time to completion represents a slower ability to connect-the-dots.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Stroop
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will measure the participant's ability to focus attention on a particular stimulus dimension while ignoring another. Task performance is assessed by observing the reaction time cost. Reaction time ranges from 0-5000 milliseconds. Higher reaction time scores represent slower reaction time.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Task switching
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will measure the participant's ability to switch between two separate tasks. The primary outcome measure is switch cost. Reaction time ranges from 0-5000 milliseconds. Higher reaction time scores represent slower reaction time.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Changes in objective measures of cognition function as measured by BrainBaseline Digit Symbol Substitution
Time Frame: Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
BrainBaseline is a tool that delivers a battery of objective cognitive tests. The investigators will measure the participant's ability to quickly and precisely shift attention from location to another, as well as measuring motor skill. The primary outcome measure is the number of correct substitutions made within the 90-second limit.
Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Acceptability of the intervention as measured by the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)
Time Frame: After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
The AIM measures the degree to which a participant feels an intervention is acceptable to them. It ranges from 4-20, and higher scores indicate more acceptability. The investigators will use a cutoff of 16 to indicate "acceptable"
After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Appropriateness of the intervention as measured by the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM)
Time Frame: After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
The IAM measures the degree to which a participant feels an intervention is appropriate for them. It ranges from 4-20, and higher scores indicate more appropriateness. The investigators will use a cutoff of 16 to indicate "appropriate"
After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
Adherence of the intervention as measured by percentage of home exercise sessions and PT telehealth appointments completed
Time Frame: After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)
After completion of intervention (estimated to be 12 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Washington University School of Medicine

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Lindsay Peterson, M.D., MSCR, Washington University School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 11, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 4, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 4, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 17, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 27, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 8, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 26, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 202302077

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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